The inventor of the present invention has discovered that it would be advantageous to provide an improved system for retaining or otherwise mounting a flexible, resilient valve defining an initially closed orifice which can be opened to accommodate fluid flow through the valve, wherein the design of the system could provide advantages not heretofore contemplated in the industry or suggested by the prior art. In particular, the system of the present invention protects the resilient valve during insertion of a probe or feed/drain tool, assists in guiding the probe or feed/drain tool into proper engagement with the valve, maintains the proper alignment of the valve head during withdrawal of a probe or feed/drain tool from the valve, facilitates proper closing of the valve after portions of the valve have been forced away from their initially closed configuration, and is resistant to pressure differentials caused by a fluent substance acting against the valve.
One type of flexible, resilient, valve is a self-closing, slit-type valve mounted in a port of a fluent container. Such valves have a slit or slits which define a normally closed orifice that opens to permit flow therethrough in response to a probe, cannula or feed/drain tool inserted through the valve, or an increased pressure differential across the valve. Such valves are typically designed so that they automatically close to shut off flow therethrough upon removal of the probe, cannula or feed/drain tool or a reduction of the pressure differential across the valve.
Designs of such valves and of closures using such valves are illustrated in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,531, No. 5,927,566, and No. 5,934,512. Typically, the closure includes a body or base mounted on the container neck to define a seat for receiving the valve and includes a retaining ring or other structure for holding the valve on the seat in the base. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,986 and No. 6,616,016. The valve is normally closed and can withstand the weight of the fluid product when the bottle is completely inverted so that the liquid will not leak out unless the bottle is squeezed. With such an improved system, the lid or cap need not be re-closed (although it is typically re-closed if the package is to be transported to another location, packed in a suitcase, etc.). One approach to provide a valve with hydraulic hammer resistance is shown in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/728,614, titled “DISPENSING VALVE WITH HYDRAULIC HAMMER RESISTANCE” and filed on Mar. 27, 2007 naming David J. Gaus et al as inventors, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other such valve systems for use with a probe or feed/drain tool are shown in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/070,799, titled VALVE MOUNTING ASSEMBLY WITH SLIT MISALIGNMENT PREVENTION FEATURE, filed Feb. 21, 2008 and naming David J. Gaus as inventor, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/268,814, titled PORT CLOSURE WITH HYDRAULIC HAMMER RESISTANCE, filed Nov. 11, 2008, and naming David J. Gaus as inventor, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
While such valved systems have significant advantages and function well, it would be desirable to provide an improved system that includes multiple benefits with a minimal number of components.